Wire-drawing block.



H. B. HUMPHREY.

' WIRE DRAWING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILEDJUNE 21, 1907.

Patented June 14, 1910. Y

' 2 sums-sum 1 WIRE DRAWING BLOCK,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21, 1 907. 1

Patented June 14, 1910.

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' UNTTED %TATE% PATENT @FTQ.

HARRY B. HUMPHREY, 0F JOLIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HUMPHREY & SONS, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS, A COPARTNERSHIP.

WIRE-DRAWING- BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 21, 1907.

Patented June 14, 1910.

Serial No. 380,084.

To-aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY B. HUMPHREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Joliet, in the county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in l/Vire-Drawing Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates particularly to means for raising and lowering or reciprocating the wire drawing block, and has for its objects to utilize air or other medium, under pressure, for raising the block, either through the kick-off lever or through the cradle and the connecting rods or bars between the cradle and the block, and this without interfering with the ordinary prac tice of raising and lowering or reciprocating the block by means of the kick-oif lever; to furnish a motor cylinder and piston, located and arranged for the piston rod or stem to furnish the pivotal connection for the kick-off lever, and also have the piston rod or stem furnish the means by which the kickoff lever can be actuated and depressed for operating the block; to furnish a motor cylinder and piston, located and arranged and so operating as to actuate the raising and lowering rods for the block by and through the kick-off lever or by and through the cradle; and to improve, generally, the construction, arrangement and operation of the kick-off lever and cradle and the motor cylinder and piston for raising the block through the connecting rods or bars.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the supporting frame, the block, the connecting rods between the block and the cradle, the cradle, and a motor cylinder, located and arranged to operate the cradle and, through the connecting rods or bars, raise the block; Fig. 2 a side elevation, showing the frame, the block, the connecting rods or bars for raising and lowering the block, the cradle, the kick-off lever, and the motor cylinder, connected with the kickoff lever, for operating the rods or bars in raising the block; Fig. 3 a sectional plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2, with the motor cylinder connected with the kick-off lever; Fig. 4 a sectional elevation, showing the connection between the block, and the driving table or platform therefor; Fig. 5 a perspective View of an arm or cradle, for use in connection with the arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and for the motor cylinder; Fig. 6 a plan view, showing a cradle of a construction to operate in connection with the motor cylinder in the arrangement of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 a sectional elevation of a valve, controlling the admission of a pressure medium to the motor cylinder.

It is the common and general practice, in the operation of wire drawing blocks, to raise and lower the block by means of lift rods or bars connected with a cradle, and having the cradle connected with the kickoff lever; and the present invention relates, specifically, to the operating of the lift rods or bars, through the medium of a power cylinder and piston, with the piston actuated by a pressure medium; and, in carrying out the invention, the power cylinder and piston can be arranged to operate in direct connection with the cradle, as shown in Fig. 1, or in direct connection with the kick-off lever, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

It is not deemed necessary to enter into a specific description of the block, the lift rods or bars therefor, the cradle, and the kick-01f lever, as such parts can be of any usual and well known form of construction and arrangement. The construction shown has a block 1, with a bottom plate 2, having openings 3, for the reception of lugs 4, on a plate or platform 5, and the plate or platform 5 has a head 6, attached by a key 7, to the driving shaft 8, which shaft is driven by a bevel gear 9, in mesh with a bevel gear 10, on a shaft 11, supported in journal boxes or bearings 12, on a yoke-shaped frame 13, and the driving shaft 8 is supported in a journal boX or bearing 14, on a cross beam 15, attached to the side bars of the yokeshaped frame 13, which is a usual and well known construction and mounting for wire drawing blocks.

The block is raised and lowered by the engagement, with its rim or under face, of rollers or heads 16, at the upper end of lift or push rods 17, and the lift or push rods 17 are each connected, by a pin or pivot 18, with a fork 19, which fork also carries a pivot 20, supported in a bracket arm 21, furnishing a pivotal mounting for the fork, and each fork 17 is connected to converging arms or bars 22, terminating in a eye 23', the forks, converging arms, and eye constituting what is termed a cradle. A rod 24 l is connected, at its upper end, to the eye 23, and its lowerend is connected with a kick-off or actuating lever 25, which lever co-acts with an upper stop 26 and a lower stop 27, as shown; and this kiclcoif lever can be operated by the foot, in the usual manner, and is no different from the ordinary and usual kick-off or actuating lever for swinging the cradle and causing the lift or push rods to raise and lower the wire drawing block.

The attached end of the actuating or kickoff lever 25 is pivotally connected, by a pin or pivot 28, with the piston rod or stem 29 of a piston 30, operating in a motor cylinder 31, so that, when the iston is immovable, the pin or pivot 28 urnishes the fulcrum for the kick-0E or actuating lever 25, when operating such lever by the foot, and this construction and arrangement of a motor cylinder and piston, connected with the kick-off lever, are shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The attachment of the piston rod or stem 29 of the piston 30 to one end of the kickoff or actuating lever 25, also enables the downward movement of the piston rod or stem 29, through the pivot or pin 28, to act and depress the kick-off or actuating lever, usin the stop 26 as a fulcrum, so that, with the ownward movement of such lever, by the depression of the piston, the cradle will be operated and cause the lift or push rods to raise the wire drawing block, and this without interfering with or destroying the usual operation of the kick-0E or actuating lever. The arrangement is one, therefore, by which the pivot 28, or the upper stop 26, can be used as the fulcrum against which the kick-off lever can be made to act and operate the cradle to move the lift or push rods 17, and raise and lower the wire drawing block.

The cylinder 31, with its piston 30, in connection with the piston rod or stem 29, and the pivot or pin 28, and the stop or contact 26, in the arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3, furnishes the means for operating the lift or push rods 17, by a motive power instead of by foot, and the motive power for the cylinder can be air or other fluid or medium under pressure, supplied to the cylinder in such manner as to act against the piston of the cylinder and force down the piston so as to depress the actuating or kick-oflf lever, and upwardly move the lift or push rods to raise the wire drawing block.

The construction, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, has entered, into the cap or head of the motor cylinder, a T coupling 32, having an interior chamber 33, with end passages leading therefrom through opposite ends of the coupling or casing, and a down passage leading therefrom and in communication with the interior of the power cylinder. The

chamber 33 at each end, has a seating face 34, and in the chamber is located a shiftable valve 35, having at each end a seating face 36, to co-act with the seating face 34 of the chamber, and at each end of the valve is a guide stem 37 entered into the passage leading endwise from the chamber. The admission of a medium under pressure, through one end passage of the coupling or casing, will drive the shiftable valve in the opposite direction, so that the medium, no matter from which end of the coupling or casing it is admitted, must enter the upper end of the cylinder and force down the piston therein for the rod or stem of the piston to raise or move upwardly the push or lift rods 17, through the actuating or kick-off lever and the cradle, to raise the wire drawing block. A bracket or shelf 38, bolted or otherwise secured to a standard or upright of the frame 13 and bolted or otherwise secured to the T coupling 32, supports the power cylinder in position, in the arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3, but the cylinder could be supported in any other suitable manner.

The arrangement, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, has a supply pipe 39 connected with one end of the coupling 32, which pipe leads from a suitable source of supply for a medium under pressure, so as to supply the medium to the motor or power cylinder 31, above the piston, and for the medium under pressure to force down the piston; and, if desired, the pipe 39 may be connected with an automatic means or otherwise, by which the medium under pressure will be supplied to the cylinder to force down the actuating or kick-off lever 25, in case an emergency stoppage of the wire drawing block is required or necessary from any cause or for any reason. The coupling 32 has connected with one end thereof a pipe 40, which is connected with a supply pipe 41, which pipe can be arranged so as to be common to any desired number of blocks, and the common supply pipe 41 is connected with a main pipe 42, leading from a source of supply for medium under pressure, so that, by opening the common supply pipe 41, or the connecting pipe 40, medium under pressure can be supplied to the coupling 32 for admission to the upper end of the cylinder 31 to force down the piston 30, and, through the piston rod or stem 29, operate the actuating or kick-0E lever so as to raise the wire drawing block and stop the operation of such block in winding wire thereon, and this stoppage can be accomplished, either at the blockitself, or at some other point in the works, and can be used in case of emergency, or if for any other cause a stoppage of the wire drawing block is desired or necessary.

The construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3, employs the power or motor cylinder, and its piston rod or stem in connection with the kick-off or actuating lever. The construction shown in Fig. 1, employs a power or motor cylinder with its piston and stem in direct connection with the cradle, for operating the lift or push bars in raising and lowering the wire drawing block. The arrangement of Fig. 1 has the T coupling 32, with the shiftable valve'described for the construction of Figs. 2 and 8, and this coupling 32 has connected, at one end, a supply pipe 39, and, at the other end, a supply pipe 40, as in the construction and arrangement of Figs. 2 and 3. The construction of the coupling, with the shiftable valve, is shown in detail in Fig. 7, and this T coupling, in the construction of Fig. 1, has communication with the interior of a power or motor cylinder 43, in which is located and operates a. piston 44, having a piston rod or stem 45, which is attached by a pin or pivot 46 with an arm 47, connected by inclined arms 48 with the cradle fork, to which the lift or push rods are pivotally connected; and the construction of the cradle and its extended arm 47 is shown in Fig. 6.

The operation of the power cylinder 43, and its piston 44, and rod or stem 45, is as follows: The admission of a medium under pressure to the under side of the piston 44 raises such piston, carrying upwardly the piston rod or stem 45, for the upward movement of the piston rod or stem, to raise the arm 47 and raise the cradle carrying upwardly the lift or push rods 17, and raising the wire drawing block, and, in order to enable the cradle to be raised by the operation of the power or motor cylinder and its piston, the connection, between the eye 23 of the cradle and the kick-off lever 25, should be so as to allow of sufficient flexibility for the eye 23 of the cradle to go down without operating the kick-01f lever, as the arm 47 of the cradle is raised.

The admission of a medium under pressure, from the pipe 39 or the pipe 40, as may be necessary for operating the power or motor cylinder, will shift the valve 35 in the opposite direction to the admission of the pressure medium for the pressure medium to enter the power cylinder, with the result that the shiftable valve is automatic in its operation in closing one end of the T coupling or casing with the admission of a medium under pressure to the opposite end, thus preventing the escape of the admitted pressure medium and causing such medium to enter the power cylinder.

It will be seen that the present invention utilizes a motor cylinder and piston for operating the push or lift rods to raise the wire drawing block, and such motor cylinder can be employed in connection with the kick-off or actuating lever, or in connection with the cradle, and this without interfering with the ordinary use of the kick-off or actuating lever and the cradle by the foot of the operator. And that, when the piston of the power cylinder is brought into service, either to depress the actuating or kick-oif lever, or to raise the cradle, according to the application of the cylinder, the push or lift rods will be raised upwardly so as to raise the wire drawing block and stop the revolving of the block, and by having the medium under pressure supplied by pipes, which can be opened at any point in the mill for admitting a medium under pressure to the power cylinder, any one, seeing the necessity for an emergency stop for a wire drawing block, can open either the supply pipe 39 or the supply pipe 42, and cause the cylinder to operate, through its piston and piston rod or stem, to move upwardly the lift or push rods and raise the wire drawing block and stop the revolution thereof, thus reducing the liability of accident-s in the operation of wire drawing mechanism to a minimum, as any operator can at once stop the block, if he sees another operator is in danger of being injured.

That I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a wire drawing block, the combination of a revoluble and vertically movable block, a vertically oscillating horizontal cradle located below and in engagement with the block and a kick-off lever located in proximity to the block and having a connection with the cradle for operating the cradle, a stop for one end of the kick-off lever, a motor cylinder in proximity to the other end of the kick-off lever, and a piston in the motor cylinder having a piston stem connected with the last named end of the kickofi lever, for permitting raising the cradle by a movement imparted to either end of the kick-off lever, the stop furnishing a fulcrum when the end of the lever at the piston stem is moved, and the piston stem furnishing a fulcrum when the opposite end of the lever is moved, substantially as described.

HARRY B. HUMPHREY.

Witnesses:

OSCAR W. Bonn, WALKER BANNING. 

